Through the Looking Glass at the EcoTarium

After crawling through a rabbit hole at the invitation of the White Rabbit, curly-haired Ella Davis met a grinning Cheshire Cat, joined a Mad Tea Party, met the Queen of Hearts and had an exciting time exploring "Alice’s Wonderland’’ at the EcoTarium.

After crawling through a rabbit hole at the invitation of the White Rabbit, curly-haired Ella Davis met a grinning Cheshire Cat, joined a Mad Tea Party, met the Queen of Hearts and had an exciting time exploring "Alice’s Wonderland’’ at the EcoTarium.

Like the heroine of Lewis Carroll’s popular novel, "Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,’’ the youngster from Voluntown, Conn., had "a most curious adventure’’ of her own.

Little Ella spent Thursday morning meeting fantastical characters, trying to figure out puzzles and sort out the optical illusions that have made the timeless novel an enduring favorite for children and adults.

Unlike the fictional Alice, she wasn’t alone but was accompanied by her father, classmates and dozens of children from visiting schools.

Occupying 1,500 square feet, the exhibit features about a dozen interactive stations based on episodes of Alice’s adventures that combine fun activities that convey a lesson about science and mathematics.

Caitlyn Claspell, 8, also of Voluntown, said she likes Alice because "we both have blonde hair.’’

Visiting with his mom, Brady Hughes, of Westborough, she said the interactive station that paralleled the Crazy Croquet game between Alice and the Queen was "cool.’’

"It was fun and gave me something exciting to do and I could win by getting the ball in the hole,’’ said the dark-haired 8-year-old.

Julieane Frost, the museum’s communications manager, said the exhibit was designed so "children would look at the story of ‘Alice’s Wonderland’ through the eyes of a scientist.’’

The exhibit was created by the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose, Calif., with funding from the National Science Foundation and MetLife. It won an award for Excellence for Exhibit Design from the American Association of Museums.

It is designed for children from 3 to 8 years old but can be enjoyed by older children, parents and caregivers.

A Mad Hatter Party will be held Saturday, July 13, from 2 to 3 p.m. Visitors can be photographed with Alice and the Mad Hatter, meet a live hedgehog and turtle and snack on "Queen of Hearts’’ cookies and lemonade.

Attached to each station, Curious Cards, printed in English and Spanish, explain scientific principles displayed in the exhibit.

Like contestants in "Jeopardy,’’ Anthony Taylor, 8, of Shrewsbury, and two pals banged buttons that sent bubbles of oil, syrup and water up through separate liquid-filled cylinders that demonstrated how a fluid’s viscosity affects its movement.

Page 2 of 2 - Pulling her mother’s hand to watch, Amy Constanzo, 7, of Fitchburg, spun a zoetrope – sometimes called the "Wheel of Life’’- a revolving cylinder that transformed different-sized pictures of Alice into a moving stream of images of her shrinking and growing as in the tale.

Sitting at one of the most popular stations, Chelsea Leonard, 9, of Stoughton, looked into a mirror and saw the Cheshire Cat appear, seemingly out of thin air, and then fade away, leaving just its icky grin hanging midair like a crescent moon.

Reading from the Curious Card, her mother, Carla Leonard, explained the mirror she was looking at was "only half-silvered’’ to let some light pass through and some bounce back. By pushing a switch turning on a light behind the mirror, she made the Cheshire Cat fade away, leaving its grin as a temporary reminder of its eerie presence.

And Carl Pires, 10, of Worcester, took several photos on a cell phone of his 6-foot tall father "looking crunched up’’ in the Hall of Doors, a room with a slanted ceiling designed to make people appear as if they were growing or shrinking.

"The story of Alice’s adventures is filled with opportunities to introduce science and math concepts to even very young children,’’ said Alexander Goldowsky, former Director of Exhibits and Education, who has since moved to another institution. "Since so many parents grew up with the story, the exhibit encourages them to play and learn together with their children as they have conversations about Alice’s experiences in Wonderland.’’